Picking motion for looms



27, 1938. o. v. PAYNE 2,141,666

PICKING MOTION FOR LOOMS Filed March 10, 1957 2 Sheets-Shea 1 InventorOscav V. Pay ne Attorney Dec. 27, 1938. C) v PAYNE I I 2,141,666

PICKING MOTION FOR LOOMS Fi led March 10, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor0%061 V. Payne.

Attorney Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIGKINGMOTION FOR LOOMS Application March 10, 1937, Serial No. 130,129

10 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in picking motions for looms andit is the general object of the invention to provide a travellingsurface to have driving frictional contact with the shuttle and whereinthe travelling surface is actuated by mechanism connected directly andpositively to a driving member of the loom.

Heretofore I have proposed the use of an endlessbelt to be moved whilein frictional contact with a shuttle in the box for the purpose ofpropelling the shuttle across the loom. The belt is trained around twospaced pulleys one of which is the driver and receives its force eitherfrom an electric motor or a spring source of power. It is an importantobject of my present invention to turn the driving pulley for the beltby mechanism deriving its motion directly from a shaft of the loom.

It is a more particular object of my present invention to drive theshaft on which the driving pulley is mounted by means of a pinion andrack driven by a cam on the bottom shaft of the loom. The rack mayconveniently be in the form of a segment pivoted about an axis whichrocks with the lay. a

In order that the shuttle may derive maximum benefit from the pickingmotion I propose to reverse the belt to place the shuttle for pickingand I achieve this result by a cam surface which comes into action afterthe time for boxing of the shuttle. This surface of the cam acts to movethat part of the belt in contact with the shuttle in a directionoutwardly with respect to the center of the loom so that the belt mayhave as large an area thereof as possible in contact with the shuttlewhen picking starts.

A loom will ordinarily pick a shuttle while it is moving rearwardly andit is a further object of my present invention to utilize the rearwardmotion of the lay to increase the turning motion of the belt. Thisresult I accomplish by mounting the pinion on the pulley shaft aconsiderable distance 'abovethe axis of the lay and cause it to meshwith a rack or the like which moves forwardly as the lay movesbackwardly. Theturning of the shaft is therefore due partly to theforward motion of r the rack and partly to the fact that the pinion ismoving rearwardly and in doing so rolls along the rack. The picking ofthe shuttle will ordinarily occur when the lay is moving rearwardly atits highest rate of speed, hence the component added by the rolling ofthe pinion rearwardly along the segment is a maximum. 1 With-these andother objects in view which will 56 appear as the description proceeds,my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of partshereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of myinvention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is on end elevation of a loom having my invention appliedthereto,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation taken in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1, v

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3--3, Fig. 2 showing the parts inthe position they assume at front center,

Fig. 4 is a plan view in the direction of arrow 4, Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 isa detail of the cam picking mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the loom frame It) has journaled therein topand bottom shafts H and I2, respectively, which are connected by gearsi3 and H3, respectively, the latter being twice the size of the former.A lay connector l5 extends between the top shaft and the lay L and actsin the usual manner to give the lay back and forth motions. As iscustomary, the shuttle S is picked out of the shuttle box B during thebackward stroke of the lay and when the latter is approximately midwaybetween its front and back positions. The lay is mounted on swords 20one of which is shown in Fig. l and each sword is connected by a bearing21 to a rocker shaft 22 journaled as at 23.

The particular means for picking the shuttle by frictional contacttherewith comprises an endless belt 25 trained around an outer idlepulley 26 journaled ona stud 21 fixed in a stand 28 mounted on the rearof the lay beam. The inner end of the belt is trained around pulley 30shown at the left of Fig. 4 and secured to the upper end of a verticalshaft 3|, the upper end of which turns in a bearing 32 on the laysimilar to bearing 28.

lhe shuttle box B comprises a front plate 35 secured to the lay andplaced to engage the front wall of the shuttle S, while the rear wall ofthe shuttle engages the front section of belt 25, as will be apparent inFig. 4. A shuttle stop 36 at the end of the lay to limit outward motionof the shuttle may be employed if desired. A mechanism P indicated inFig. 4 is part of a protector mechanism and serves also to press thebelt against the shuttie and may be substantially the same as that shownin my prior Patent No. 2,012,052.

The mechanism thus far described may be that found either in the usualloom or inmy aforesaid patent, and at the time of picking the belt 25travels in the direction of arrow a, Fig. 4, to propelthe shuttle to theleft by frictional engagement between the belt and the rear wall of theshuttle.

for actuating the My present improvement relates more particularly tothe mechanism for turning the shaft 3|, and in carrying my inventioninto effect I provide a grooved cam ill secured to the bottom shaft l2,which makes one revolution for two beats of the loom. The cam has a highdwell area 4| as shown in Fig. 5 and a low dwell 42 shorter than andlocated on the opposite side of the cam axis from the high dwell. Thecam turns in the direction of arrow b and has a decline surface 43,while the remainder of the cam is formed of two incline surfaces one ofwhich, indicated at ,is relatively slight, while the other part 45isquite steep, extending substantially along a line radial from the axisof shaft l2.

The groove 46 follows the cam surfaces already described and receives aroll i'i mounted on a cam lever 48 pivoted at its upper end asat 49 to astand 55 secured to the loomside. The lower end of the lever is pivotedas at 5| to a rod 52 extending forwardly, or to the left as shown inFig. 1.

If it be desired to absorb shock in the action of the cam lever I mayemploy a spring rod 53 pivoted to the lever as at 54 and having securedadjustably thereto the collar 55 to receive the rearward thrust of acompression spring 55. A guide 51 is secured to the loom structure forthe forward end of the rod 53 and receives the forward thrust of thespring. The cam gives the lever a very quick forward motion which iscushioned by the spring, but I do not consider the 7 spring essentialand it may be omitted.

The forward end of rod 52 pivots on a stud 5%) held in adjusted positionin slot 6| formed in a bevel gear segment 62. The latter is pivotedabout a stud 63 carried by an arm 6'! fixed on the rocker shaft 22. Abracket 6d secured by means of plates 65 and bolts 66 to the adjacentsword 25 is braced by a bearing in mounted on the rocker shaft 22. Thesegment is provided with rack teeth TI to mesh with a bevel pinion 12secured to the lower end of shaft 3|. While I have illustrated asegment, yet I do not wish to be limited to such a construction, as theteeth H constitute in effect a gear rack.

The lowerend of shaft 3| is journaled in a bearing 15 bolted as at 16 toa part T! of the bracket 56. It will be apparent therefore that bracket54, the arm 67, the segment 62, the lower end of shaft 3| and the pinion12 rock about the shaft 22 as an axis, swinging back and forth' with thelay.

In operation, the bottom shaft l2 makes a revolution every second beatof the loom and as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 the parts are in theposition they assume with the lay on front center prior to a picking ofthe shuttle. The roll 41 is on the low dwell 42 and the cam is turned ina left hand direction so as to cause the inclines 44 and 45 to approachthe roll 41. As surface 6 engages the roll the lever 48 is rockedforwardly to rock the segment 62 rather slowly, causing turning of shaft3| and thebelt at such a rate as willfprevent the belt from slippingalong the front wall of the shuttle. The latter, however, will slipalong the box front 35. Thereafter steep incline 45 engages the roll andgives the segment and belt a rapid motion to pick the shuttle. Duringthis period the segment and lever will move from the full to thedotted'lines of Fig. l. a

It will be noted that the'lay is moving rearwardly when the segmentmoves forwardly, and as a result of this relation, the pinion is causedto turn for two reasons, one due to the movement of the segment, and theother due to the rolling of the pinion along the segment due to rearwardmotion of the lay. These factors both tend to turn the shaft 3| and beltin the same direction, and their effects are therefore added, giving thebelt a faster rate of motion than would be derived from either factoralone.

At the end of the pick the roll l? is at the beginning of the high dwell4| and will remain in this position throughout the greater part of theensuing beat of the loom. When the same position for picking is nextreached by the lay the shuttle will be picked from the opposite end ofthe loom and will enter the box B when the lay is approximately atbottom center position, or midway in its forward beat. At this time thedecline 43 acts to move the lever 48 rearwardly or to the right asviewed in Fig. 1, thereby giving a reverse motion to the belt during thetime that the shuttle is boxed. As a result of this reverse moticn thebelt 25 will travel in a direction opposite to arrow at, Fig. 4, for thepurpose of placing the shuttle S in boxB. This placing of the shuttleinsures adequate contact between the forward portion of the belt and therear wall of the shuttle during the ensuing pick. At the end of theshuttle placing operation, the roll, 4'! passes from the decline 63 tothe short dwell 52, thereby holding the belt and shuttle substantiallystationary in the box for a short period prior to picking.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided means forpicking the shuttle by means of an endless belt driven by a cam on oneof the loom shafts acting on a segment gear which turns a pinionconnected to the belt. It will further be seen that the cam is soconstructed that at the beginning'of the working stroke of the segmentthe latter will have a relatively slow motion to prevent the belt fromslipping along'the shuttle, after which the segment is given a rapidmotion. It will also be seen that the shock absorbing spring 55 may beemployed if desired to check the blow imparted to the roll 41 and thelever 48 by the steep incline 45. Further, it will be seen that the axis63 lies behind the rocker shaft 22 so that the rocking of the lay haslittle or no effect in the position of the segment and does notinterfere with the action of the cam. Because of the location of thepivot for the segment the latter is moved by a motion derived from thecam without substantial interference on the part of the lay motion, andthe time of picking may therefore be varied merely by setting the cam 45around the shaft l2, that part of the belt motion derived from thesegment being maintained the same for all settings of the cam. It willbe seen also that the rate of motion of the belt'has two additivecomponents, one due to 'motion of the segment and the other due torearward motion of the lay.

It will further be seen that the cam is so constructed as to place theshuttle and bring the latter to restwith respect to the lay in time fora transferring operation of the magazine. The short dwell 52 which liesbetween the decline and the incline surfaces of the cam acts earlyenough in the cycle of belt movements to place the shuttle and'maintainit at rest with respect to the lay during the'transferring interval. -Itis sufflcient if the short dwell 42 brings the belt to rest just beforethe lay reaches front center.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is: k

1. In a loom having a shuttle to be picked, a lay rocking about a pivot,an endless friction belt movable in the direction of the length of thelay when in contact with the shuttle to pick the latter, a rotaryelement having driving contact with the belt, a segment gear, a pinionmoving with the rotary element and meshing with the segment gear, apivot support on the lay for the segment normally in substantialhorizontal alignment with the pivot of the lay, and means to move thesegment to cause the pinion to rotate in a direction to move the belt topick the shuttle, said means imparting driving force to the segment in.

a substantially horizontal direction, whereby rocking of the lay impartsno substantial motion to said segment in a horizontal direction byreason of the location of the pivot of the segment.

2. In a loom having a lay moving in a given direction when picking, ashuttle, a belt movable in the direction of the length of the lay infrictional contact with the shuttle to pick the latter, a pinion mountedon the lay and movable with the belt, a rack meshing with the pinion,and means to move the rack in a direction opposite to said givendirection of the lay at the time of picking to turn the pinion and causemotion of the belt, movement of the pinion and belt being due partly tothe motion of the lay and partly to motion of the rack.

3. In a loom having a lay moving rearwardly during the period of pickingand operating with a shuttle, a belt to have frictional contact with theshuttle and movable in the direction of the length of the lay in adirection to pick the shuttle, a gear pinion mounted on the lay andconnected to and movable with the belt, a rack meshing with the pinion,and means to move the rack forwardly as the lay moves rearwardly torotate the pinion, rotation of the pinion being due partly to forwardmotion of the rack and partly to rolling of the pinion along the rackdue to rearward motion of the lay.

4. In a loom having a lay and operating with a shuttle, a belt movablein the direction of the length of the lay in frictional contact with theshuttle to pick the latter, rack and pinion means for operating thebelt, the latter movable with the pinion and the pinion being mounted onthe lay, and simultaneously acting coordinated means to move the lay andrack in opposite directions at the time of picking, the turning of thepinion being due partly to motion of the rack and partly to motion ofthe lay.

5. In a loom operating with a shuttle, a belt movable in a pickingdirection while in frictional contact with the shuttle to pickthelatter, a pinion connected to. and moving with the belt, a rack meshingwith the pinion, and simultaneously acting coordinated means to move thepinion and rack in opposite directions to turn the pinion, turning thepinion being due partly to its own motion in one direction and partly tomotion of the rack in the opposite direction.

6. In a loom having a lay and a shuttle to be picked, an endlessfriction belt movable in the direction of the lay when in contact withthe shuttie to give the latter a picking impulse, the shuttle moving outof contact with the belt when travelling across the loom, a rotaryelement having driving contact with the belt, a cam requiring two beatsof the loom for a complete rotation thereof, said cam having an inclinecorresponding to a relatively small angular motion of cam and having areturn decline corresponding to the angular motion of the cam occurringduring at least one full beat of the loom, and operating connectionsbetween the cam and element to give the latter a quick motion derivedfrom the incline to move the belt in a direction to pick the shuttle andthereafter give the belt a continuous return motion corresponding to atleast a beat of the loom to move the belt in the opposite directionpreparatory to another pick.

'7. In a loom having a lay and a shuttle to be picked, an endlessfriction belt located at one end of the lay and movable in the directionof the length of the lay when in contact with the shuttle to give thelatter a picking impulse after which the shuttle leaves the belt totravel across the loom, a rotary element having driving contact with thebelt, a rotating cam requiring two beats of the loom for a completerotation thereof and having an incline corresponding to a relativelysmall angular motion of the cam and a decline corresponding to angularmotion of the cam occurring through at least one heat of the loom,

a gear rack, a pinion meshing with the rack and having driving relationwith the element, and connections between the cam and the rack by whichthe incline of the cam gives the belt a short quick motion in a pickingdirection to start the shuttle across the loom bythe incline of saidcam, and thereafter give said belt a slow gradual return by the declineof the cam extending over a period corresponding to a pick or more ofthe loom to return the belt for the following pick.

8. In a fly shuttle picking motion for a loom having a lay and a shuttleto be picked, an endless friction belt movable in the direction of thelength of the lay when in contact with the shuttle to start the latteron a picking flight, a rotary element having driving contact with thebelt, a rotary cam requiring two beats of the loom for a completerotation thereof, said cam having a single incline and a single decline,the incline corresponding to a comparatively small angular motion of thecam and the decline corresponding to a relatively large angular motionof the cam, and connections between the cam and the rotary element togive the belt a single picking motion derived from the incline for eachcomplete revolution of the cam and effective thereafter to give therotary element a single return motion in the opposite direction.

9. In a fly shuttle picking motion for a loom having a lay and a shuttleto be picked, an endless belt at one end of the lay movable in thedirection of the length of the lay when in contact with the shuttle tostart the latter on a. flight across the loom, a rotary element havingdriving contact with the belt, a rotary cam requiring two picks of theloom for a complete rotation thereof, said cam having a single inclinecorresponding to a comparatively small angular motion of the cam andhaving a single decline corresponding to a large angular motion of thecam, and connections between the cam and the rotary element, saidconnections to give the belt a picking motion derived from the inclineand thereafter give in a picking direction, a second geared elementhaving driving connection with the first element, said elements beingmovable bodily each with respect to the other and so related thatmovement of the second element in a given direction causes motion of thefirst element in a picking direction,

motion of said first element bodily in the opposite direction alsocausing motion thereof in a picln'ng direction due to the drivingconnection between said elements, means to move the second elementbodily in the 'given direction, and

additional means to move the first element bodily

